Tight encounter as Stallions and Olympic settle for draw
Marconi Stallions and Sydney Olympic shared the points in a 0-0 draw at Marconi Stadium on Saturday night.
The tight battle saw both teams fighting to the very end; however, neither team could capitalize on the opportunities they created.
Marconi’s Connor Evans created a chance for the home side in the 27th minute, sending a brilliant corner kick to the head of Nathan Millgate. Still, Olympic keeper Christopher Parsons was ready in position to collect.
Brendan Cholakian looked dangerous for Olympic in the 30th minute; however, his free-kick was cleared by Marconi defender Roberto Speranza.
Mohamed Adam sent a shot on target in the 32nd minute, but Marconi custodian Nenad Vekic calmly collected it.
Evans and Millgate combined again off a corner in the 34th minute, but Millgate’s header flew just wide of the sticks.
Olympic’s Marley Peterson fired a strike towards goal in the 39th minute, but Vekic managed to deflect the shot out for a corner.
Mitchell Mallia cut a ball back to Frangie to create a chance for the home side just before the half time whistle; however, Anthony Frangie’s header landed in the gloves of Parsons.
Evans sent a corner kick into the box in the 75th minute, which came off the hands of Parsons to the left foot of Millgate, whose shot flew over the bar.
Despite both teams fighting to create opportunities in the dying minutes of the match, both teams were goalless at the final whistle, sharing points in a hard-fought battle.
Marconi coach Peter Tsekenis was pleased his team was able to keep a clean sheet and create chances.
“We talked about clean sheets and obviously trying to win games; we’ve had six draws, so obviously it’s a little bit frustrating,” he explained.
“I thought the second half we got on top and created some excellent chances; we limited them to pretty much just one chance.
“Disappointed for the boys that we didn’t get the result.
“Goal scoring is not our issue; it’s just one of those days where it doesn’t want to go in for you.
“We’re just going to keep working hard and just make sure we try to get the result next week.”
Sydney Olympic’s Jason Madonis was pleased his team could come away from the battle with a point.
“We fought hard to get a point at a challenging place to come,” he said.
“I thought we had an excellent first half – we probably should have had a goal or two in the first half.
“We have to start getting three points home or away.
“We’re Sydney Olympic; we want three points every single week, so we’ve just got to start putting two halves together so hopefully we can kick on and start climbing the ladder.”
Match Stats
Sydney Olympic FC 0
Marconi Stallions 0
Saturday 17th April 2021
Marconi Stadium, Bossley Park
Referee: H. Jomaa
Assistant Referees: A. McConachie and S. Quinn
Fourth Official: J. Rose
Marconi Stallions: 1. Nenad Vekic, 2. Nathan Millgate, 3. Giorgio Speranza, 4. Roberto Speranza, 6. Mark Rodic, 8. Connor Evans, 10. Marko Jesic, 11. Mitchell Mallia, 14. Anthony Frangie (17. Martin Fernandez 83’), 16. Liam Youlley (21. Emmanuel Peters 59’), 23. Brandon Vella
Substitutes Not Used: 9. Anthony Costa, 19. Zac Cairncross, 20. Dion Shaw, 24. Paolo Laxamana
Yellow Cards: Anthony Frangie 29’, Nathan Millgate 57’
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney Olympic FC: 2. Thomas Whiteside, 4. Benjamin van Meurs, 5. Michael Glassock, 8. Jason Madonis, 9. Oliver Puflett (18. Yu Hasegawa 80’), 10. Brendan Cholakian, 17. Marley Peterson (14. Peter Kekeris 70’), 21. Fabian Monge, 23. Daniel Dias, 35. Mohamed Adam (22. Fabio Ferreira 90’), 70. Christopher Parsons
Substitutes Not Used: 6. Nikola Kuleski, 20. Luke Kairies, 39. Peter Politis
Yellow Cards: Benjamin van Meurs 43’, Brendan Cholakian 70’, Jason Madonis 86’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Connor Evans (MS)
2 – Nathan Millgate (MS)
1 – Brendan Cholakian (SO)
By Football NSW Reporter Madeline Riley (@madelineriley23)
